Jon & Danny go to Orrville GNC. Danny & myself recently attended the recent AMA Grand National TT at Orrville, Ohio. I hate to admit how many years it has been since I attended an ATV TT National but it seems that little has changed. It seems a decent rider with the good power & a handling setup can run with the fastest. Several of our customers ran very well. Of course the elite class is the 250 Pro class, and we actually had a real good chance to win the thing. On the final restart of the feature, FTZ mounted pro rider Joe Byrd (who happens to be one of the best Motocrossers in ATV racing) was getting more and more used to the speed and powerband of his new FTZ 250R Hybrid Motor (see 250R motor page) on the wide open Orrville racetrack. On the final restart of the Pro feature Joe blew off the line and despite being lined up next to the fence he nearly holeshot the field. Joe exited the 1st turn "stock car track" sweeper behind leaders Farr & Spader, both of which he promptly passed on the long back straightaway. The announcer was going nuts! Joe then got on the brakes a little early letting Farr & Spader back by at the infield entrance. Running a very close third through the narrow infield Joe downshifted before the last corner and the darn 2nd gear broke stalling the engine and leaving Joe with only 1st gear and a DNF. Bad luck struck again as "A"class star Darin Ogden came out for the Feature and after running warm up laps, had an ignition wire short out while lining up for the feature. After wailing the class in Friday night's oval track race and easily winning his heat in the TT it seemed obvious that the feature would be his. Despite the obvious disappointment we had a good time and we came home even more reinforced that no one builds a faster 250 motor than we do. I am glad we went, we met a lot of new customers and old friends. I think what we needed to take was a rabbit's foot! Until next time, Jon